2014-10-21 (canadian association for renewable energies) There are “many potential supply mixes” to facilitate wind energy in Canada and “the vast majority of them are much less greenhouse gas intensive” than described in a study commissioned by the nuclear industry. The literature review of lifecycle assessment of wind, nuclear and natural gas generation claims that emissions from wind and nuclear are similar, with the exception of GHG emissions where wind produces “distinctly less” emissions than nuclear. The nuclear study claims that nuclear can be less GHG intensive than a scenario where wind and natural gas jointly generate power. The Canadian Wind Energy Association says wind can partner with hydroelectric, solar or energy storage and DSM technologies and, “by choosing to focus on only one scenario, the study failed to consider a broad range of equally or more plausible scenarios for the future evolution of Canada's electricity grid.” GHG emissions must be “an increasingly important consideration in the selection of future sources” of electricity, but CanWEA adds that the cost-competitiveness of new generation sources and their overall environmental performance and economic benefits are also important. Wind is cheaper than new nuclear reactors and is cost-competitive with new hydroelectric facilities, and is not subject to commodity and carbon price risks facing natural gas.

2014-10-21 (canadian association for renewable energies) The 140 MW solar PV facility in Kingston was one of the top asset finance transactions of the third quarter of this year, at $525 million, according the latest ‘Global Trends in Clean Energy Investment’ produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Total investment in Canada was $1.9 billion in Q3, up from $1.3 bn in Q2, and compares with $7.3 bn in the US, down from $10.7 bn in Q2 but up from $5.7 bn in Q3 of last year. Global investment in renewables totalled $175 bn in the first three quarters of 2014 “as the sector shows signs of a worldwide recovery after a two-year slump,” with most of the increase in China and Japan. Support fell to an eight-year low in Europe. “There is no room for complacency because clean energy investment of between $200 bn and $300 bn a year is not large enough to herald the rapid transformation of the power system that experts say is required if the world is to see a peak in CO2 emissions around 2020,” the report notes.

2014-10-20 (canadian association for renewable energies) Federal energy minister Greg Rickford is reiterating that Canada is a global leader in the generation of renewable energy, with 64% of electricity coming from renewable energy ... the highest in the G7. He told meetings in Edmonton, Chicago and elsewhere that Canada is committed to reaching additional markets to support energy security, environmental responsibility and the economy, and that the Keystone XL pipeline remains a priority. Keystone XL will displace heavy oil from Venezuela, which has higher GHG emissions, so it is an environmental choice. Rickford highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September on enhanced energy cooperation with US energy secretary Ernest Moniz, which supports the advancement of a clean electric grid and enhancing coordination on energy efficiency, as well as carbon capture and storage and unconventional oil and gas development.

2014-10-20 (canadian association for renewable energies) Lockheed Martin is developing a 100 MW fusion reactor that could be deployed within a decade in a unit that would fit on the back of a truck. The military armaments supplier claims the compact reactor would produce less waste than coal-powered plants since it would use deuterium-tritium fuel, which can generate ten million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuels. Fusion energy has been a concept for 60 years and Lockheed Martin has become increasingly involved in ocean energy and other alternate energy projects, as it looks to offset a decline in military spending. The company employs 113,000 people and has net sales of $45 billion.

2014-10-16 (canadian association for renewable energies) Premier Kathleen Wynne has directed her energy minister to champion renewable energy in Ontario and to lead the government’s commitment to 20,000 MW of renewables online by 2025. “You will continue to monitor progress toward targets for wind, solar, bioenergy and hydroelectricity as part of Ontario energy reporting,” she said in her letter to Bob Chiarelli. “Continuing to work with the ministry’s agencies to implement a new competitive procurement process for renewable energy projects larger than 500 kW that will take into account local needs and considerations.” The minister must continue to respect existing contracts “while always ensuring that these contracts enable the delivery of sustainable, affordable energy to Ontario’s ratepayers” and he must work to “ensure that municipalities participate meaningfully and effectively in the decision-making process for the placement of renewable energy projects, including wind and natural gas.” Wynne released the mandate letters she sent to each Cabinet minister last month, outlining key priorities for each ministry.

2014-10-16 (canadian association for renewable energies) A subsidiary of Martifer Solar of Portugal has entered into a strategic partnership with the general contracting firm Triumph to serve the growing demand for solar PV in the Canadian market. The partnership will be called Martifer Solar Triumph which will inherit applications under the FIT3 program in Ontario, and will expand into the market of Alberta where a FiT program is expected to be announced soon. “Our partnership with Triumph will provide the Canadian PV market with strong complementary expertise to drive forward the adoption of solar energy in the country,” says Pedro Gomes Pereira of Martifer Solar. “The new organization we have built will have strong capabilities to empower Triumph's existing rooftop customers with the option to gain added benefits with solar PV,” adds Mário Ribeiro of Triumph and the new CEO of Martifer Solar Triumph. Martifer is based in Portugal with annual revenues of Euro 275 million and 500 MW of PV capacity around the world.

2014-10-15 (canadian association for renewable energies) The new premier of Alberta will not drag taxpayers into “an Ontario-style post-coal renewable subsidy quagmire” but will promote a transition from coal to natural gas for electricity, argues Terence Corcoran of the National Post. “While it could be argued that the kill coal objective is also aimed at mollifying climate agitators, at least natural gas would (presumably) not require much in the way of ‘subsidized environmentalism’,” he explains in his column. In a letter to the newspaper, premier Jim Prentice says he wants “a comprehensive energy policy that embraces all options, including renewables, (but) I have never said that I would replace coal-fired plants with wind and solar power.”

2014-10-15 (canadian association for renewable energies) Two Aboriginal students from the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba will receive scholarships from BluEarth Renewables. The Aboriginal Clean Energy Scholarship provides financial support of $3,000 per academic year and skills development opportunities for Canadian aboriginal students pursuing trades certification, diploma, degree and other programs from accredited post-secondary institutions. The scholarships offer an opportunity for aboriginal students to gain work experience with a renewable power generation team. “Offering a program like this one puts BluEarth at the front of the pack in terms of creating opportunities for a mutually beneficial relationship between Aboriginal peoples and natural resource and clean energy development,” says Nicole Iaci of the Kwantlen First Nation, a second-year law student at UBC. “As an Aboriginal person in Canada, I have a connection with the land and am happy to be able to participate in a program that focuses on clean energy,” adds Chanse Kornik of the Manitoba Metis Federation, who is majoring in electrical engineering at U of M. Nicole and Chanse will have an opportunity for a paid internship and to be partnered with a BluEarth team member who will act as a learning partner throughout their academic year.

2014-10-14 (canadian association for renewable energies) TransCanada has purchased 30 MW of PV capacity in three projects from Canadian Solar for $182 million. Two facilities are located in New Liskeard and one is east of Ottawa. These purchases bring TransCanada's investment in its Ontario solar program to $400 million. “These solar acquisitions are an important part of our $38 billion capital program and add 20-year revenue streams in a core geography that are backed by a high quality credit and long-term customer relationship,” says president Russ Girling. To date, the company has invested $5 billion in energy sources including the largest windfarm in New England, 13 hydro power facilities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont, the Ontario solar projects and Canada's largest windfarm development in Quebec.

2014-10-14 (canadian association for renewable energies) CIBC World Markets has become a registered observer of the Green Bond Principles, a set of voluntary guidelines to promote integrity where capital is raised to fund projects with environmental benefits. GBP was launched earlier this year by the International Capital Markets Association to provide transparency and disclosure guidance for bond issuers and underwriters when launching green offerings which support renewable energy supplies, including biomass, geothermal, solar and wind. It ensures that investors have information to evaluate the environmental impact of green bond investment opportunities. The green bond market reached $20 billion in the first half of this year, almost double the total for 2013 says CIBC. “As green bonds increase in popularity among issuers and investors, confidence in the market is essential to ensuring that funding continues to grow and be available for credible projects.”

2014-10-10 (canadian association for renewable energies) Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada and Coronal Group have acquired Balsam Lake solar project in Kawartha Lakes, from Balsam Lake Green Energy. The project is under construction and will enter commercial operation next year under a Feed-In Tariff from the Ontario Power Authority. “This is Panasonic’s first ground-mount solar project in Canada and our first in the country with Coronal,” says Walter Buzzelli of Panasonic. “The Balsam Lake Solar Project underscores the efficacy of our renewable energy platform for the commercial, industrial, municipal and small utility markets throughout North America,” adds Jonathan Jaffrey of Coronal. Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada has a mission to deploy renewable, smart energy systems in Canada.

2014-10-10 (canadian association for renewable energies) Greenbriar Capital says it has been approached by “several large energy companies” to purchase the entire company or its major assets. Greenbriar Capital is a developer of renewable energy projects.

2014-10-10 (canadian association for renewable energies) Innergex Renewable Energy has closed $93 million of financing for the 21 MW Tretheway Creek run-of-river hydroelectric project on Crown land near Harrison Hot Springs, BC. Commercial operation is expected late next year with average annual output of 81,000 MWh, which is covered by a 40-year fixed-price power purchase agreement with BC Hydro.

2014-10-09 (canadian association for renewable energies) Gaz Métro will purchase 260 million cubic metres of renewable natural gas over a 20-year period from the biomethanation centre of Saint-Hyacinthe. The proposal will be submitted to the Régie de l'énergie for approval. Saint-Hyacinthe is Québec's first city to turn organic matter into biomethane for use as energy. The project “opens the way to a type of renewable energy that absolutely must be expanded in Québec,” says Martin Imbleau, Gaz Métro’s Vice-President of Development & Renewable Energies.

2014-10-09 (canadian association for renewable energies) Alberta's new Premier Jim Prentice has made positive comments about energy but his comments are troubling when he has talked of replacing the province’s coal-fired electrical generation with wind and solar, warns Kenneth Green of the Fraser Institute. Prentice is a "big fan" of renewables and wants to "make investments" in renewables in the context of an overall climate plan for the province, and the comments have met with approval of the wind and solar lobbies “who could see a windfall of governmentally-mandated investments at the expense of taxpayers,” he explains. The US Energy Information Administration estimates the levelized cost of generating power from coal at $96/MWh and natural gas at $65, while solar PV is $130, solar thermal is $243 and on-shore wind is $80 per MWh, he cites. Wind is intermittent, it requires redundant back-up power sources, and it “tends to produce power when you need it the least, and stops producing when you need it the most,” says Green. Prentice's “focus on government promotion of renewables is misplaced.”

2014-10-09 (canadian association for renewable energies) NRG Energy of New Jersey has acquired Pure Energies Group of Toronto, a web-based solar customer acquisition specialist. Customer acquisition is one of the most expensive parts of solar installation and NRG says the purchase completes the portfolio of residential PV companies it has assembled over the past year, including Roof Diagnostics Solar and Goal Zero of Utah. All operations will be combined as NRG Home Solar to provide a one-stop shop for prospective solar customers. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. NRG has 10,000 employees and has suggested that NRG Home may become a publicly-listed entity.

2014-10-08 (canadian association for renewable energies) British Columbia has enormous potential to produce geothermal power, with sufficient resources to meet all the power demand of the province. Despite its potential to provide low-cost baseload power, geothermal energy has remained under-developed compared to other sources of renewable energy, says the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association in an assessment of the electrical and direct heat potential in BC. Recent reports from the federal government have been key in indicating the geothermal resource potential of Canada, but “further steps need to be taken to provide technical data pertinent to geothermal exploration,” it notes. The most conservative technical potential for geothermal in BC is 5,500 MW, which rises to 6,600 MW when additional data are included.

2014-10-08 (canadian association for renewable energies) Reid's Heritage Homes has started construction of Canada’s first Net Zero Energy demonstration project under the $4 million ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative. The national program involves five homebuilders constructing a total of 25 NZE homes in four provinces, which will include solar panels that feed the grid; advanced space conditioning systems for heating and cooling; high-efficiency windows; superior levels of insulation and air tightness; and other environmentally-progressive features. In addition to ecoENERGY, funds will come from Owens Corning Canada, participating builders and the building industry in the form of in-kind contributions to fund the construction of the homes. The ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative was announced in the 2011 budget and provides $268 million for long-term solutions to eliminate air pollutants and GHG emissions from energy production. Eligible projects must be demonstration or research & development.

2014-10-08 (canadian association for renewable energies) EnerDynamic Hybrid Technologies has connected a 500 kW solar PV system to the Ontario grid for E.S.Fox. The 2,190 Jinko panels, Schletter racking and Santerno Inverters will generate 600,000 kWh/a at a rate of 63.5c/kWh. E.S. Fox is a construction and engineering firm with 1,000 employees.

2014-10-07 (canadian association for renewable energies) Canada and the European Union will revitalize cooperation in energy, including the 2007 High-Level Energy Dialogue in key areas such as renewables, energy security, energy efficiency, and the safe exploitation of unconventional energy resources, as well as trade in liquid natural gas. The commitment was contained in the communique released by prime minister Harper and the EU leaders during their signing of the CETA agreement in Ottawa. They celebrated the end of negotiations for the Strategic Partnership Agreement that will contribute to stronger ties in energy, R&D and the Arctic.